VOTE ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS, 1875-1918 Year Voted On 1882. 1884. Subject of Amendment 1. Woman Suffrage....... 1886. 1. Legislators, term of office to 1890...... 4. Increase salary of supreme 1892........ 1. Creates board of railway com-| 2. Investment of the permanent! 1896.. 1. Increase supreme court to five] 5. Legislature may increase num- 127,778 ballots were cast on which the electors expressed no choice as to such amendment. 16,013 ballots were cast on which were printed "For proposed amendments to constitution relating to the legislative department" and "Against proposed amendment to the constitution relating to the legislative department", and neither proposition erased. (Neb. House Journal, 1887, p. 1003). Difference between vote cast for head of ticket and members of legislature 209,595 197,510 Toal votes case at election of 1892. Recount for members of legislature.. "Prior to this election the total was calculated from the total vote for governor. 51906. First election under provisions permitting state conventions to adopt proposed amendment and all "party circle ballots" to be counted therefor. Both republican and democratic parties adopted amendment. "Republican party adopted amendment at primary and democratic re jected. 'Submitted by popular initiative. 12 $2,207.00 3,871.00 11,737.50 10,500.00 25,249.99 $2,207.00 6,814.40 3,871.00 11,737.50 10,500.00 25,249.99 6,300.00 6,300.00 4,721.00 4,721.00 13,419.01 13,419.01 5,670.00 5,670.00 3 $158,048.38 $7,605.97 $4,402.90 $12,007.87 $170,055.25 Delegates to the constitutional convention of 1864 met at Omaha and immediately adjourned without drafting a constitution. "The constitution of 1866 was drafted by the legislature, submitted to the people and adopted by them. INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM Vote on questions referred to the people by initiative and referendum petitions. STATE GOVERNMENT INTRODUCTION The following sketches are designed to give briefly the important facts in the history of the territorial and state government, as shown by the various departments, boards, offices, bureaus, institutions and organizations that have been established or fostered by the state. These facts are limited principally to the information afforded by the constitutions, legislative acts and records, executive proclamations and messages, and reports of offices and institutions. The interpretation of the facts is left to historians and the public. Each sketch is prefaced by a roster of the present officers and employes of the department or institution, corrected for June 1, 1922. The functions, duties and powers of the several divisions of governmental activities are indicated briefly, and, in the case of the wide reaching departments, only partially. The regular current publications of each office are indicated by name. CONSTITUTIONAL DEPARTMENTS* LEGISLATURE The organic act of May 30, 1854, provided for a legislative assembly consisting of a council of thirteen members elected for two-year terms, and a house of representatives of twenty-six members elected for one-year terms. Annual sessions of not more than forty days' duration, except the first session, which, might be prolonged to sixty days, were provided for. Members were paid three dollars a day and three dollars for every twenty miles of travel in getting to and from the capital. Legislative apportionments were to be based on the number of voters. The territorial governor was directed to have a census taken, to make the initial apportionment and to call an election. Power to change the number of representatives, to make apportionments and to fix the dates for convening in regular session was vested in the assembly. The first session convened at Omaha, January 16, 1855. An act approved March 16, 1855, provided for the taking of a census by the marshal and a new apportionment by the governor. The number of representatives was limited to twenty-nine for the next session, and it was further enacted that, until changed by law, the annual sessions should begin on the first Tuesday in December, except the succeeding session, which was to convene on the third Tuesday in December, 1855. At this session it was provided that the next regular session should convene on the first Monday of January, 1857, and annually thereafter on the first Monday in January. An act approved January 26, 1856, directed the marshal to take another census and the governor to make another apportionment, limiting the number of representatives to thirty-five. By joint resolution of April 25, 1856, the territorial assembly memorialized the delegate in congress to secure amendment to the organic act basing the apportionment on the increase in white population instead of on the number of voters. The time for convening of the next session was changed to the second Tuesday in December, 1857, but was immediately restored to the first Monday in January for the next session. An act approved November 3, 1858, fixed the number of representatives at thirty-nine *The University is included with educational institutions. and apportioned them among the counties. The fifth session was called by Governor Richardson to consider the adoption of parts of the criminal and civil codes and affairs of the state generally. The secretary of the territory refused to pay the expenses of this session from the current expense appropriations and the legislature, by joint resolution, requested congress to make an early appropriation for the purpose. By legislative act the sixth, seventh and eighth sessions convened on the first Tuesday in December of each year. By legislative act the ninth session convened on January 7, 1864. A temporary apportionment was made by this session. The eleventh legislature drafted the constitution of 1866, which was adopted by the people at an election held June 2, 1866. This constitution provided that the first session of the state legislature should be held on July 4, 1866. When this first session assembled, the admission bill had not yet passed congress. A negro suffrage amendment to this act required the assent of the legislature before the proclamation of admission by the president, so that when the second state legislature met on February 20, 1867, just after the close of the twelfth territorial assembly, its business was to assent to this amendment. Thus the first state legislature that had the power to pass laws was the third session beginning May 16, 1867-statehood having become a fact on March 1, 1867. This was a special session called by Governor Butler to consider general legislation. The constitution of 1866 made no change in the numerical arrangements of the two houses, calling for thirteen senators and thirty-nine representatives. Biennial sessions were provided for, to begin the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of the odd numbered years. The fourth special session held on October 27 and 28, 1868, was called to provide for the election of presidential electors, a detail which had been overlooked. The fifth session (erroneously called the first "regular" session) was the first session to be held at Lincoln on the constitutional date. The sixth session was a special session called by the governor for the ratification of the fifteenth amendment to the federal constitution, to provide for the erection of a penitentiary and for other purposes. Upon adjournment, without effecting all the legislation desired by the governor, another special session was called to convene immediately to pass a herd law, to amend an act governing the keeping of identical funds in the state treasury, and for various other purposes. The eighth regular session instituted impeachment proceedings against Governor Butler. Growing out of impeachment proceedings brought against the auditor, John Gillespie, a series of adjournments brought about the eighth adjourned session of January 9, 1872. The tenth session was called by Governor Furnas to amend the law concerning certain county boundaries, to consider assessments in new counties and the incorporation of cities. The twelfth and thirteenth sessions were called on the same day to canvass the vote on presidential electors, and to appoint an elector to fill an alleged vacancy. The only other special sessions were the seventeenth, convened to reapportion the congressional districts, to appropriate money for calling out the militia to suppress riot at Omaha, and for other purposes, the thirty-sixth, called to pass war legislation in 1918, the thirty-eighth called in 1919, to ratify the federal equal suffrage amendment, the thirty-ninth, called in 1919, to enable Douglas county to provide for repairs to its court house, and the forty-first, called in February, 1922, to reduce appropriations, and correct errors in certain legislation. The constitution of 1875 limited the maximum membership of the legislature to one hundred in the house and thirty-three in the senate. Prior to 1880, under this constitution, the house had eighty-four members and |